TORONTO — Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Thursday night to force Game 6 in their first-round playoff series.
Anthony Cirelli also had a goal and an assist, Nicholas Paul scored and Alex Killorn got an empty net goal for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, which got 34 stops from Ilya Samsonov. John Tavares had two assists.
The Leafs still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Game 6 will be Saturday in Tampa. Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday back at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto, which has failed to advance in the post-season since 2004 and was eliminated by the Lightning in seven games in the first round last year, is now 0-10 since 2018 with a chance to eliminate a post-season opponent.
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Tied at 1 after a spirited first period, the Lightning pushed ahead at 4:23 of the second when Eyssimont beat Samsonov through the pads from a tough angle for his first goal of the series.
The period ended in controversy when Pat Maroon crushed Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano from behind into the boards. The initial play went uncalled, but the bruising Tampa winger was assessed a roughing penalty for the ensuing scrum.
Giordano rejoined his teammates on the bench shortly after the restart after getting looked at by the trainer.
DEVILS 4, RANGERS 0: Erik Haula had two goals and an assist, Akira Schmid stopped 23 shots, and host New Jersey took a 3-2 lead in its first-round series.
Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Palat also scored to help New Jersey move one win away from advancing with its third straight win after losing the first two games at home.
Schmid had eight saves in the first period, 13 in the second and two in the third for his first career postseason shutout while making his third straight start. He has stopped 80 of 82 shots he’s faced after Vitek Vanecek gave up nine goals on 52 shots in the first two games.
Igor Shesterkin finished with 39 saves for the Rangers, who have been outscored 9-2 over the last three games after a pair of 5-1 wins to open the series.
Game 6 is Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Leading by three after two periods, the Devils controlled play in the third with a dominant 18-2 advantage on shots on goal over the final 20 minutes.
The Rangers nearly got on the scoreboard but Vincent Trocheck’s poke attempt went off the left post and slid across the goal line. Schmid and Haula both punched the puck to the side and away from the goal with 6:25 left.
Haula had an empty-netter with 5:12 to go to cap the scoring.
Just as a penalty on the Rangers’ Patrick Kane was about to expire early in the second period, Haula knocked in the rebound of a shot by Mercer in front through Shesterkin’s pads at 3:27 for his second of the series to push the Devils’ lead to 2-0.
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